


Dream State

by Taurus_onthe_Run



Category: Sally Face (Video Games)
Genre: First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Love Confessions, M/M, No beta reader, Possible Spoilers, Self-Esteem Issues, Slow Burn, Teen Romance, Underage Smoking, We Die Like Men, bed sharing, lots of fluff, so many smooches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-09-16 02:29:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16945272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taurus_onthe_Run/pseuds/Taurus_onthe_Run
Summary: Sal wakes up from a nightmare and finds comfort in his friend.





	1. Fondness

Sal sighed. It had been a long day at school. Running from bullies, uncovering secret conspiracies, and you know, being a teenager. And his afternoon hadn't been any better. Homework, awkward interactions with his dad and finally falling into a nightmare ridden sleep. He woke up suddenly, panting and sweaty. It was the same dream he’d been having for a while now.

He was running. From what he didn’t know. Maybe it was the red eye demon? Maybe it was himself. He couldn't be certain. All he knew is that he was running as fast as his legs would take him. Blue and white sneakers kicking up puffs of dirt as he booked it across a never ending plain.

Sal needed to confide in someone, anyone. His dad was already asleep, and Gizmo was out of the question.It was around 1am when he finally sucked in a breath and dug his walkie talkie out from his bedside table. He pressed the on button, listening to the static for a bit before speaking into the receiver.

“Hey, Larry Face? You up?” For a moment, nothing then the static crackled and Larry's voice was heard on the other side

“Yeah man, always. S’up?” Sal smiled at the sound of his friends voice, feeling better already. He let out a small breath,

“Can i come down?” He paused, “I don't wanna be alone.”

Larry responded nearly immediately, “Another nightmare dude? You know you’re always welcome. Just come on down when you’re ready.”

Sal let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding and spoke again, “Thanks Larry, i'll see you in a bit.” Sal stood from his bed and went to turn on the light switch. With his room illuminated, he popped in his glass eye and strapped on his prosthetic. Though Larry had seen his real face on a few occasions before, Sal still preferred to keep the mask on. Having it off felt like being in your underwear at a formal event. It was like a part of him now.

He quickly brushed his hair and put it into a simple ponytail and grabbed his key card. The ride down in the elevator was always anxiety inducing. Mr. Addison hadn’t rigged up any sort of elevator music, so the only sound was the mechanical scrape of metal going down the shaft. Finally after what felt like literal hours a faint ping came from the useless speakers, and the doors opened. Sal walked out and peeked at the vending machine on the off chance it had been filled. Seeing as it was absolutely not, he made a b line for his friends door. As he knocked softly his thoughts drifted to Larry. He was the first best friend Sal had ever had. Always kind and willing to lend and ear or a shoulder to cry on. The two boys had gone through quite a bit in there years together. One incident always managed to rear its head in the forefront of Sal’s mind.

The bologna incident was one for the ugly books, but there was a very specific part of that fiasco that Sal held dearer than anything. The two were cowering behind a dresser, quaking as they feared the end was near. Sal still remembers the feeling of pulling on his pigtails, hands clammy from fear. Suddenly, Larry looked at him, desperation blatant in his eyes. “If we don't get out alive, I…” He trailed of, swallowing, “I love you, dude.” In the moment, Sal hadn't thought much of it as he returned the sentiment. But now, even a year later, It made the tips of his ears burn bright red.

Sal was jolted out of his thoughts by the door in front of him opening and Larry standing inside in his pajamas. The taller boy gave a smile,

“Hey there, Sally Face.”

“Hey there, Larry Face.”

They shared a chuckle as Larry moved aside to allow sally entrance. They walked quietly to past Lisa’s room as not to wake her from her limited sleep. Sally plopped down on Larry's bed and let out a sigh of relief. This was Sal’s safe place, a place where he felt like he could really let loose. Larry must have noticed the way his shoulders relaxed as he came and sat down next to his friend. Larry places a hand lightly on Sal's shoulder. _His hands are so big and warm_ , thought Sally. The two shared the silence, listening to the sounds of the world outside. Occasionally they could hear a distant passing car, but other then the insects outside, it was quiet. Larry turned to Sal, concern flashing across his face for a brief moment,

“What's bouncin’ around in that noggin of yours, huh?”

Sally didn’t say anything, but Larry had become a master at body language over the course of knowing Sal. The way his shoulders hunched slightly and his leg twitched was enough to tell Larry that something was weighing on his blue haired friend. Sal shrugged it off though, instead saying,

“Can we just play some video games or something?”

Larry nodded and went to set up a game on his console. _Thankfully it isn’t a school night_ , Larry thought. He was never one to care about his grades, but he knew sally liked to stay at his above average position. It was kinda awesome having a best friend who excelled in almost every subject. If Larry ever needed help, or needed to copy of someone's homework last minute, Sal was always there for him. Larry thought back to the first tutor session the had had together. Sally was helping him with some of Mrs. Packerton’s home work, math and the like was never Larry's stongsuit.

As Sal tortured him they ended up closer and closer together until Sally's hair was tickling Larry's chin. Seeing his friend so close made him feel, for lack of a better word, odd. He wanted to protect Sal, keep him safe and happy, even if that meant sacrificing himself. Larry wasn't an idiot, he knew that these feeling were more than just friendly. But he was fine just being friends with his eccentric neighbor, Sal had brought something to his life he hadn't had since his father left.

With the console set up and a game loading, Larry stood and turned to face Sally. Sal was still sitting on Larry's bed, seemingly lost in thought.

“Yo, Earth to Sally Face! Do you copy?”

Larry waved his hand in front of Sal’s eyes and laughed softly as Sal jolted back to reality. A muffled laugh came from under Sal’s mask as he joined Larry on the floor by the TV. The two sat close as the watched their game characters fight each other. The only sounds in the room came from the TV and the occasional grunt of defeat from one of the two teens.

It was nearly 3am now, and Sal couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. Larry was in the same boat, already drifting off beside him. He stood, looking down at the brunette, “Lar, man, get in the bed. You're gonna hurt your back down there.” Sally grabbed Larry’s hand and heaved, pulling the taller boy up to his feet with a grumble.Larry took the few steps necessary to fall into his bed and wrapped himself in blankets. Larry clumsily patted the mattress next to him and scooted over to give Sal space to lay down comfortably. Sal turned off the lights and in the darkness removed his mask. He kept his glass eye in, as he didn't want to go get a glass of water. He slid into the bed and under the covers next to his friend.

Sleeping in the same bed wasn't abnormal for them. Sal spent the night at Larry's fairly often and he had no blow up mattress or anything like that. They spent nearly half an hour arguing over who should sleep on the floor the first time Sal spent the night.

“You should get the bed man, it's _your_ bed.” said Sal, already placing a pillow on the floor.

Larry quickly picked it up. “No way dude, you’re my guest! It's only right.”

Sal paused, tilting his head down and murmured something.

“What was that man?”

Sally looked up and cleared his throat, “I said, we could...sleep together. If that's okay.”

Larry paused, seeming to consider it for a moment before shrugging his shoulders saying, “yeah why not? I mean, we’ve taken on ghosts and demons before, so what's a bed between bros?”

Sally smiled fondly at the memory before falling asleep.


	2. Best bros

When Sal cracked his eye open later that day, two things were immediately clear to him. Firstly, it was warm. Warmer the he had ever recalled it being in Addison Apartments, particularly down in the basements. Secondly, There was something resting atop him. He turned his head to get a better view and suddenly felt like he had been suckerpunched by his own heart. There was Larry Johnson and draped over Sal’s torso, was his arm. If Sal could blush he knew he’d be a bright pink right about now. No one had been this close to him in years, not even his own father and the contact was making him squirm. Not that he didn't like being this close to Larry, but it was like he was suddenly over conscious of every movement he made. His leg itched and his neck was at a weird angle, but he didn't want to move, least he disturb his friend. He even tried to breath slower and more steady just in case. It felt like hours, but finally, Larry shifted and his eyes fluttered open. As his eyes adjusted he yawned and stretched, his back popped with the movement. 

“Ah fuck.”

Sal cracked a smile and replied, “Good morning, sleeping beauty.”

Larry chuckled, turning to Sal and batting his eyelashes, “Aw, Sally Face thinks i'm beautiful!”

It was clearly a joke, just a goof. But regardless, it made Sal’s stomach knot up. He could save this.

“Course I do man, fuckin’ gorgeous.” He hoped his voice had only shook in his head.

Sally had sounded so earnest that Larry was taken aback for just a moment before laughing. He swept his hair back from his face and into its usual slicked back style. 

“Shut up, man. Let’s go see what’s in the kitchen. I'm damn hungry”

But Sal could see that his tan face now had undertones of red. 

_ Cute _ , he thought to himself. 

Sal rose from the bed and reached for his prosthetic, but hesitated. Eating was always a challenge with the thing on, and it was just Larry and himself. He brought his hand back down to his side and instead followed Larry into the kitchen.

“Alright man, watcha want?”

 

After eating and bidding Lisa a goodbye it was nearly dark out. They washed up and the two retreated into Larry's room again. Larry walked to the stereo system and flipped through a couple of channels finally landing on one playing some sort of metal band. He moved his head to the beat for a bit before sitting on the bed. Sal watched as he pulled out his drawing notebook from his bedside table and began to doodle.Sal never asked to see what Larry was working on, he would show Sal when he was ready, he’d said once. So Sal laid back in Larry’s bed, arms beneath his head acting as a pillow. It felt good to be so near Larry. 

The soft scraping of pencil on paper was relaxing and the two enjoyed the silence. Sal gazed up at Larry’s ceiling and let his mind wonder. 

He thought about school, and about his dad and finally about the brunette beside him. 

Sal cast a glance at Larry and saw he was deep in concentration, his tongue sticking out of his mouth. Sal restrained a laugh and instead breathed deeply, taking the opportunity to observe him closely. 

Little freckles decorated Larry’s cheekbones and forehead. Some larger ones covered the bridge of his long nose. His eyes were dark brown, nearly chocolate and framed by long eyelashes. Though his stance was sometimes awkward, Sal admired his long legs and the way Larry held himself . 

Larry was, as far as Sal was concerned, the most beautiful person he’d ever seen.

“Sally Face?” Sal rolled over so that he could hold his chin in his hands,

“Larry Face?”

Larry closed is pencil in his sketchbook and gave Sal a hard look.

“Do you wanna talk about what woke you up last night?”

Sal cringed, he knew this was coming, They didn't have this conversation often, but when they did Sal always felt embarrassed for some reason. No maybe embarrassed wasn't the right word. More like, he felt like he didn't want to be worried over.

“It was just another nightmare, man. No big deal.” He cast his eyes downwards, hiding behind his hair.

Larry shifted so that he was facing Sal head on.

“Are you stressed out over something? Are those shit heads at school picking on you again?”

“No. It's nothing like that.”

Larry blew some hair out of his eyes and placed a hand on Sal’s head, ruffing up his hair a bit, “Alright man,” Larry go up and walked to his closet, pulling out a small box, “But I’ll always be here for you, when you need it.” He rummaged around in the box a bit before pulling out a half smoked blunt and a lighter. He flicked the lighter to life and held it to the burnt tip, taking a deep breath. He coughed a bit then offered it to Sal, who cracked a smile, 

“Larry Johnson, you are a bad influence on me.” He said reaching out for the roll.

Sal inhaled deeply and his throat burned, but only a bit. The potent smoke traveled into his lungs and swirled around inside for a bit before Sal let out his breath. The smoke traveled back out in a steady stream, passing through his cracked lips. The aftertaste was almost good. Earthy. 

Sal passed the blunt back to Larry and tried not to think about how in a weird sort of way, they were kissing. 

“Hey dude, watch this!” Said Larry. He exhaled, put the blunt to his lips and sucked in air. After a moment he slowly pushed the smoke out through his lips, but instead of blowing it into the air, he inhaled through his nose, sucking the smoke back in. Larry smiled, smoke coming through his teeth, “Fucking cool, right!”

Sal was already starting to feel fuzzy but he took another hit anyway, “Dude that was awesome. Do it again!”

Larry laughed and repeated the trick again, beaming at Sal, “I can teach you if you want.”

Sal nodded his head and listened closely as Larry explained the prosesse.

After a few attempts, Sal was finally able to do the trick. He threw his fist in the air and coughed a bit as the smoke choked him. Larry laughed, but it came out more as a giggle. By this point it had been about half an hour, and both of the young men were considerably gone.

Sal turned lazily to Larry and blinked a few times,

“Do you know any other tricks you could teach me?”

Larry thought for a moment before scratching his head, “Uh, I know another, but like, it's kinda weird.” Larry blushed through his haze. Shotgunning was personal. Something more for a couple then for friends, but Sal looked so excited, his fogged out eyes were wide and damn it, he just looked so cute. _ I can’t say no to that face _ , thought Larry.

“Alright man, come here. ”Sal eagerly shifted his body, situating himself close to Larry, nearly touching their knees together. Larry swallowed thickly, he noticed how incredibly close they were to each other. He placed the nearly burnt out blunt to Sal’s scared lips,

“Alright dude, you gotta take a hit first then I'll finish it.”

Sal leand close and wrapped his lips around then end, taking a deep breath. He held it for a moment, then let his breath come out. As he did, Larry came close. His lips were mere centimeters from Sal's. He inhaled deeply and the smoke traveled into his lungs. Sal sat with wide eyes, and Larry could see the tips of his ears were red. Sal swallowed, unable to think. Larry was still close. Too close. He watched as Larry exhaled, the smoke rising upward, creating a veil between them. Larry's eyes met Sal’s. Then the veil was broken. 

Larry kissed Sal with everything he had. And Sal returned the kiss viciously. It was messy, teeth clacking and lips not quite meeting where they should. Larry breathed deeply and could smell Sal’s scent mixed with the heavy smell of weed. He was on cloud fucking ten.

Sal couldn't believe it. He was kissing Larry and Larry was kissing back. It may have just been the high but Sal didn't think he’d ever been this happy in his life. Larry's hands came up to hold his face and Sal noted with joy how they were shaking. Sal mimicked Larry and brought his arms up around Larry shoulders, clasping his hands behind the others head. They parted for a split second before coming back to each other. One of Larry's hands began to travel down, feeling the bumps and scars on Sal’s face before slowly making its way down to his hips. Larry gripped Sal's hip and pulled him closer. In response Sal let out a small sigh from his nose. 

Larry wasn't sure when they laid down but suddenly he was over top of Sal straddling his legs and kissing down his neck. Sal was letting out little pleased noises, his eyes scrunched closed and his neck stretched out to give Larry more access. On a whim, Larry bit down on the side of Sal's neck lightly, but it was enough to make Sal whimper.

He quickly brought a hand up to his mouth, surprised that he could even make such a noise. Larry felt so good. He was soft and warm and so so perfect. 

Eventually the kisses stopped and were replaced by the heavy snores of the both of them. The room still smelled of weed as they both fell asleep, still holding each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh shit my guys, things are heating up. Sorry it took me a while to get this one out, i was conflicted on the direction i wanted this to go and i think i finally got it. Anyway enjoy! comment if you liked it.
> 
> Also, i don't have a beta reader so if you see any mistakes point them out and ill try to do better! Thanks!
> 
> here's links to YouTube videos of the smoke tricks i included. Please respect your country or states laws when regarding illegal substances!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKl-ZETXj5Y&has_verified=1
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBzZ3nojaWo


	3. Late night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit, hey. Im so sorry that this is so late and short. Winter break happened so i was with family and i had a medical accident so ive been unable to type properly and just uhg. Please enjoy and look for the next update to be up soon.

Around 3 am, Larry was shaken awake by the sound of his front slamming closed. He sat up and rubbed his blurry eyes. Something wasn’t right. It took him a moment to figure out that Sal was gone. The left side of his bed had the blankets thrown aside and was starting to cool.  His sleep addled brain just couldn’t figure out why. Maybe he was in the bathroom. Larry laid back down and wrapped the blankets around himself, missing the added warmth. His mind was blank but he could feel something bouncing around inside him. Something important.    
Larry shot up strait, eyes wide,  heart racing. Larry brought his fingers up to his mouth and gently traced his lips. He had kissed Sal, he had kissed Sal hard. Larry felt himself blushing from the tips of ears down to his chest. The faint ghosting of l his friend underneath him made his stomach churn in an amazing way.

As hard as he tried to get back to sleep, he just couldn't. Larry's head was filled with Sal. Memories and fantasies blurred together the more he tried to remember what had really happened. All he could be certain of was that he wanted to do it again and again. Now that he’d had a taste, he was an addict. Sal was like water and Larry had been living in a desert.

Larry groaned and hid his face in his hands.

“Fuck.”  Larry fell back in his bed and his hair sprawled out around him. It was going to be a long night. 

  
  
Sal closed Larry’s front door and ran. In the back of his mind he cringed as it slammed shut, but escaping was his main priority. He stood at the elevator, waiting for what felt like years for the door to hiss open. He jumped inside and immediately pressed the fourth floor button repeatedly, like that would make it go faster. His leg bounced and his breath came out heavy, condensation building up quickly behind the prosthetic.    
Sal unclasped the bottom strap and pushed it up on his head. He needed to calm down or he was going to send himself into a panic attack. Which normally wouldn’t have been a problem, except that he always relied on Larry to comfort him.    
He didn’t remember the walk to his room, or taking of his mask or even crawling into bed. All Sal remembered was the feeling of kissing Larry. His hair tickling his skin and Larry hovered above him. How his eyes bore into Sal’s soul as he leaned down to press their lips together again and again. The feeling of his teeth on his neck and the gentle caressing of his face.    
Sal’s breathing picked up again and he clutched at his chest. He felt like the room was closing in on him and like all of his air had been sucked out of his lungs.  He gasped for air and threw his hand down, searching for his phone. He needed to call someone, anyone. He quickly flipped through his contacts, finding Ash and pressed dial. He felt a little bit bad for waking her up so late, but his breathing was getting worse by the second. After a few rings Ash’s voice came through on the receiver.    
“Hey, Sally Face. You okay?” She knew Sal, and knew that he wouldn’t call so late unless it was important. She always kept her ringer on, just In case.    
She brushed some hair out of her face and listened to Sal try and wrangle his breath.    
“Sally? Calm down, okay? What happened?”   
Finally, Sal got his breathing under control and mumbled into the receiver. He was so quiet that all Ash heard was the word kiss.    
“What? Kissed who Sal?” There was a pause and a deep breath from the other side.    
“We... I-I kissed Larry... I don’t know what to do.”    
She could hear that he was crying, and as much as she wanted to comfort him, she was shocked. How would this change them? Or the group? What if they started dating but broke up?    
Sal sniffling brought her back to reality, and she realized that her own feeling could wait.    
In about fifteen minutes Sal had managed to keep himself together enough to tell Ashley what exactly had gone down. From the nightmare to the smoking and finally the kiss. Ash was quiet for a moment before saying softly,

“Did it feel good?”

She heard Sal choke on the line and exclaim, “W-what?!”

Ash sighed, “Did you like it? Kissing Larry?”

Silence. 

Sal blushed hard and was thankful that no one could see him.

“Of course i did ash. I was the best I've ever felt.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

Sal stalled, his eyebrows scrunching as he thought hard, “But, but what if Larry thinks i'm gross now?”

He heard Ash scoff, “Sal that's ridiculous. No one could hate you, especially not Larry.” She paused a moment, “Pretty sure he’d die for you man.”

Sal felt himself chuckle and there was a comfortable silence on the line. 

“Thank you Ash. For being such a good friend.”

She smiled and held back a yawn as they said goodbye and hung up. 

Sal rested his head against the wall and brought his fingers up to his lips. They were chapped and an entire chunk of flesh was missing from the right side, but he lightly traced them anyway. He could still feel Larry's mouth brushing against his. 


	4. well,shit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey remember when i said this chapter was gonna be out soon? well im a fucking liar. oops. enjoy

Sunday passed by in a flash without contact from either of the two boys. Though Larry would never admit it, he was waiting. For anything really. He had prepared himself to loose his best friend. He had readied himself to march up the stars and tell Sal exactly how he felt. But in the end, he had just ended up laying on his bed staring at the ceiling. He felt like he was on a rollercoaster that was stuck right before the first drop.

Monday at school was the most awkward Larry Johnson had ever felt in his life. He was either staring at Sal, or refusing to make eye contact with the smaller male. By the end of second period he developed a raging stomach ache from the stress of it all. At lunch Sal refused to sit next to him or even join in the conversation, and at the end of the day his blue haired friend was nowhere to be seen. The rest of the week followed in a similar manner. 

Larry walked home by himself, bracing his shoulders against the cold.He stood in the middle of his room and tossed his backpack down. Lisa was off working and the apartment was uncomfortably quiet. Usually Larry could drown it out with his loud music, but this quiet was different. It seemed to be coming from inside his own head. His mind was a jumble of thoughts and he didn't even realize that he was back outside until he sat in the corner of the tree house.  Larry sighed deeply and rubbed at his eyes. He felt like he had been sitting too close to the tv for too long. Simply put, exhausted. He missed his friend. He missed seeing Sal light up at dumb jokes. He missed the way Sal would talk endlessly about anything and everything. Larry grabbed his phone and quickly typed out a message. He hit send before he could lose his nerve and waited. Seconds felt like eons, but his phone pinged and Larry wasted no time opening up the text.

_ Hey, come to the tree house _

_ Okay, ill be down soon _

Larry breathed a sigh of relief and clutched his phone to his chest. Before he knew it, he could hear Sal climbing up the tree. The door popped open and sal hauled himself up to sit on the edge, letting his feet dangle a bit. He was breathing hard, almost panting. He had run down as soon as his phone had received Larry's message, taking the stairs to save time. Sal flipped his middle finger up when he heard Larry laugh under his breath,

“What dude? You eager to see me or somethin’? “ 

“Eager to see what?” Sal laughed, “Your greasy ass hair?”

Larry faked a gasp, dramatically clutching at his chest, “You’re just jealous of my luscious locks dude!”

Sal rolled his good eye and scoffed, “Yeah, i'm so jealous of having to buy new shampoo every week.”

There was a moment of silence before they both busted out into a fit of laughter. Sal had his arms wrapped around his stomach and Larry was smiling so hard his dimples were showing. They had missed this, missed feeling good with each other. 

As the laughter faded, the air became thick and heavy with tension. The only sounds were of rustling leaves and distant cars. Larry coughed and Sal inwardly cringed when he spoke, “So, are we gonna talk about it or just pretend it never happened?”

Sal had asked himself the same question all week but being asked it by Larry was like being asked if he would rather burn to death, or drown. Both options uncomfortable, and he would rather just not answer. But he knew he had to make a choice.

Sal inhaled shakily, “Can, can we just act like it didn't happen? I don't want anything to change between us.”

Larry nodded slowly, “I missed you, dude.”

“I missed you too, Larry.” 

Later that night up in his room, Sal was filled with regret. He had chosen wrong.He had been given the opportunity to confess everything and he had let it slip through his fingers. Like sand in a hour glass. He knew he loved Larry, and he knew he would give anything to kiss him again. Silent tears slipped from his eyes as he rested his head in his hands. He felt like he was having a million thoughts at the same time, and yet he couldn't focus on any of them. Sal groaned and sniffed, what was left of his nose whistled. Sal didn't sleep that night.

Downstairs in the basement, Larry wasn't fairing much better. He had thought that maybe he could paint out his feelings, but the only thing on the canvas before him was a dark patch of navy blue. He racked his brain for inspiration, but his sadness was overwhelming. Sal had chosen to stay friends, which he was grateful for, but Sal had not chosen him. And the realization hurt. It hurt a lot. Larry had never liked anyone before, and had therefore never had to deal with rejection. He sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose. Larry didn't sleep that night either.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this will be the last chapter of this fic. Sorry but im really not good at endings -_-*  
> Thank all of you for sticking around to see this mess.

For a total of one week, things went without a hitch. Sal and Larry we’re back to cracking jokes and the whole group had absence of normality again. They were exactly like they were before it happened. Just friends.    
It was torture.    
Seeing each other everyday was hell. Sal’s heart permanently resided in his stomach and Larry couldn’t look himself in the mirror anymore. Every single day it got harder. And every single day they pretended like they weren’t struggling to survive.    
Larry’s under-eye bags grew darker and his slouch became more pronounced. While Sal became more gaunt by the day, regret swallowing him whole.    
But as the next weekend rolled around, it seemed like the universe eternally desired to fuck with the both of them.    
It was like history was repeating itself. Sal wasn’t even entirely sure what was happening until he felt Larry’s lips against his again. And for a brief moment everything was perfect. Hands explored bodies and needy whimpers filled the air.  It wasn’t until Larry slid his knee in between Sal’s thighs that he had to stop himself.    
“Larry, stop!”   
Immediately the brunette pulled away, nearly to the other side of the bed. He was breathing hard and a bush colored his face red. His lips were swollen and his hair was messed up from where Sal had run his fingers through it.    
“W-we can’t, Larry. We can’t do this.”    
Larry pulled at his hair, he thought he might cry.    
“Why not?” It came out harsher then he intended and Sal flinched, still laying on the bed. Rejection made his mouth bitter. He lowered his voice, nearly whispering,” Why not, Sal. I want it, don’t you?”   
Sal sat up, irritation building in his voice, “Of course I do Larry!” He looked down, blue bangs shielding his eyes, “ You know how people here are. What they would do to us.”   
Sal’s voice shook and desperate tears filled his vision. He didn’t see Larry reach for his face, but he instantly felt better when his tears were wiped away.    
Larry’s large hands cupped Sal’s face and he made Sal look at him.   
“Sal Fisher, since when did you care about what people think?”   
“Since it could hurt you.”   
“I can take care of myself Sally face. But I wanna take care of you too.”    
There was a moment of silence between them, making the air thick. Sal didn’t know what to say, he didn’t think he could speak if he tried at this point. So he did the only thing he could think of. Quickly Sal placed a chaste kiss on Larry’s lips. It was quick, but he hoped to whatever gods that were watching that Larry would understand.    
He did. With Sal’s face still in his hands, Larry brought their faces together and kissed Sal sweetly. He did it again and again, expressing all the pent up emotion he had harbored. Fat happy tears streamed down Sal’s face as Larry kissed all over his face and he laughed out loud.    
“ ‘m sorry I’m an idiot, Larry.”    
“If you’re an idiot then I am too.”   
For the rest of the night, they held each other closely. The joked and laughed and shared breathless kisses. They didn’t think about anything except each other. Not ghosts, not school, not tomorrow, just each other.    
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> The game they play is the american release of street fighter. I actually went and researched what video games were available for two player in this time period, and holy shit there were more then i thought there were.


End file.
